According to a new Ericsson Mobility report, more than 90 percent of the world’s population will have WCDMA/HSPA subscriptions by 2019 of which more than 65 percent will be covered by LTE.
The report says that the smartphone subscriptions will triple, while the smartphone traffic will increase 10 times between 2013 and 2019. The latest Ericsson Mobility Report reveals that mobile subscriptions will reach 9.3 billion by 2019, and more than 60 percent of these – 5.6 billion – will be for smartphones.
WCDMA/HSPA networks will cover more than 90 percent of the world’s population by 2019 to support the smartphone user experience. The report added that almost two-thirds (65 percent) of the world’s population will have 4G/LTE networks subscriptions by 2013. Currently, smartphones constitute 25-30 percent of all mobile phone subscriptions, even though they account for nearly 55 percent of all mobile phones sold in Q3.
According to the report, smartphone traffic will grow by 10 times between 2013 and 2019, reaching 10 Exabyte’s. The report also stated that social networking and web services will constitute around 10 percent each of mobile data traffic in 2019. The report added that video is growing by 55 percent annually, and will soon represent more than 50 percent of the mobile data traffic.
Douglas Gilstrap, Ericsson’s head of strategy, says: “The rapid pace of smartphone uptake has been phenomenal and is set to continue. It took more than five years to reach the first billion smartphone subscriptions, but it will take less than two to hit the 2 billion mark1. Between now and 2019, smartphone subscriptions will triple.
“This trend will be driven by uptake in China and other emerging markets as lower-priced smartphone models become available.”
Source: Ericsson Mobility Report